U.Va. School of Architecture Appoints Iñaki Alday as Chair of Architecture

June 15, 2011 — The University of Virginia School of Architecture has named Spanish architect Iñaki Alday to serve as R. Quesada Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture. The five-year appointment, which was announced by Architecture School Dean Kim Tanzer, will begin Aug. 1.

"Iñaki's expertise in design and practice will add a significant dimension to not only our programs in the Architecture School, but to the global scope of our community as well. We are so pleased that he has decided to join our faculty and School," Tanzer said.

Alday replaces associate professor of architecture Craig Barton, who held the post since 2007 and will return to full-time teaching.
 
An internationally recognized practicing architect, Alday is principal of aldayjover architecture and landscape in Barcelona, Spain, an office founded in 1996 with partner Margarita Jover. The firm specializes in works of public architecture, urban space and landscape, and has received numerous design awards, including the FAD Prize of City and Landscape and the European Urban Public Space Prize. Alday and Jover will maintain their practice in Spain, returning periodically to oversee key aspects of current projects. Jover will begin an adjunct teaching appointment as a lecturer in architecture in the spring 2012 semester.

Alday was born in Zaragoza, Spain, and received his degree in architecture from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia Vallès School of Architecture in Barcelona. He has held visiting and associate professor positions in the Vallès School of Architecture, as well as visiting professor or lecturer positions in several architecture and landscape programs.

Alday and Jover gave the 2010 Benjamin C. Howland Memorial Lecture at the U.Va. School of Architecture, titled "Beautiful Floods," a transcription of which is featured in the school's student journal, "Lunch 6: Systems."

The School of Architecture includes four departments – architecture, architectural history, landscape architecture, and urban and environmental planning – supporting a tapestry of interdisciplinary research themes that connect the faculty's research with the curriculum and engage in the most important issues of the day.

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